Cutter for book binding

ABSTRACT

In apparatus of the type in which collated book signatures are held by clamps for travel along a path, the signature folds are trimmed off by apparatus comprising a first rotary cutter on one side of the path disposed to cut laterally part way into the width of one side of the book backbone as it moves past the cutter, and a second rotary cutter on the opposite side of and farther along said path disposed to cut at least to the same width through the other remaining side of the backbone. The rotary cutters are coplanar and lie in a plane parallel to the path of travel. The first cut is substantially halfway through the book, during which cut the remaining uncut side of the book backbone acts as back up means for the first rotary cutter, thereby obviating the need for customary additional back up means. To lesser extent the first cut side of the backbone extending below the clamps acts as back up means for the second cutter.

United States Patent Inventor Robert E. Fogg Lynn, Mass. Appl. No. 816,487 Filed Apr. 16, 1969 Patented Mar. 16, 1971 Assignee Comstock 8: Wescott, Inc.

Cambridge, Mass.

CUTTER FOR BOOK BINDING '3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 83/404, 83/409, 83/433, 83/516, 83/925 Int. Cl B26d 7/06 Field of Search 83/404, 409, 433, 425, 469, 925 (BT), 516

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,248,253 11/1917 Bredenberg 83/409X 1,394,309 10/1921 Juengst 83/409 1,835,685 12/1931 Ackley 83/409 2,028,785 1/1936 Kleineberg ..83/925(BT)UX Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Att0rneyRoberts, Cushman & Grover ABSTRACT: In apparatus of the type in which collated book signatures are held by clamps for travel along a path, the signature folds are trimmed off by apparatus comprising a first rotary cutter on one side of the path disposed to cut laterally part-way into the width of one side of the book backbone as it moves past the cutter, and a second rotary cutter on the opposite side of and farther along said path disposed to cut at least to the same width through the other remaining side of the backbone. The rotary cutters are coplanar and lie in a plane parallel to the path of travel. The first cut is substantially half-.

way through the book, during which cut the remaining uncut side of the book backbone acts as back up means for the first rotary cutter, thereby obviating the need for customary additional back up means. To lesser extent the first out side of the backbone extending below the clamps acts as back up means for the second cutter.

BOOK

CUTTER FOR BOOK BINDING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the present invention relates to the binding of books, and more particularly to means for trimming the book backbone to expose individual pages prior to applying adhesive binder thereto.

In the art of making books, the individual pages are generally printed as an array on large sheets of paper which are subsequently folded into signatures and collated for binding. One book making method involves first cutting off the signature folds to expose individual pages at the book backbone and then applying an adhesive binding to the backbone. A cover may be applied over the adhesive. This method is generally described in patents Nos. 2,671,912 and 3,179,967. Typically the collated signatures are held by clamps with the backbone exposed, and conveyor means move the clamp and book past a stationary rotating cutter disposed to saw off the signature folds to prepare the backbone for application of adhesive. In some cases the backbone is roughened after sawing to improve and expand the area for adhesive contact. While still in the clamps, the book backbone has adhesive, e.g., a hot melt, applied thereto, and generally a cover is placed over the adhesive.

Prior apparatus for sawing the backbone has typically employed a circular saw disposed along the path traveled by the clamped book. A fixed backup plate lies along the path opposite the saw and engages the book, preventing it from bending by opposing the forces transmitted to the book by the saw. The clamp itself cannot adequately resist these forces because it must be placed well up the book from the plane of the saw. This apparatus works well when the backbones to be sawn are thin. As the backbones increase in thickness, this apparatus becomes-more and more unsatisfactory because the higher sawing forces transmitted to the book cause great pressures to be exerted upon the book portions moving in contact with the backup plate. On undesirable consequence is wrinkling or tearing of these portions. A second undesirable consequence is that much higher clamping forces must be used to counteract the longitudinal and vertical components of this increased forces to prevent the book from sliding within the clamp. When the book backbone reaches the dimensions of, for example, a metropolitan telephone book, the apparatus is extremely unsatisfactory.

One solution to the problems posed by thick books has been to saw away two or more successive layers from the signature folds, each layer constituting roughly one-sixteenth inch of backbone. Since it is generally desired to remove one-eighth inch from the backbone, two cutting stages are usually sufficient. Two drawbacks attend this solution, however. One drawback is that the saws, even though they remove but a thin layer of backbone, still exert a substantial force, not reduced in proportion to the reduction in thickness, on the backbone. Another drawback is that the kerf of the saw is approximately the same dimension as the layer to be removed, and therefore the paper scrap that is left is of little or no value. When the full thickness of the backbone is cut off in one operation, strips of xcrap paper are left that may be bales and sold to reduce cost.

SUMMARY OF INVENTlON Objects of the present invention are to provide a simple and effective apparatus for cutting an unbound book backbone which can be used on relatively thick books without requiring high clamping pressures and without causing portions of the book to become wrinkled or torn, while still yielding salable paper scrap.

According to the invention the need for high clamping pressures or backing plates is obviated by providing apparatus comprising clamp means for holding the book with the length of the backbone exposed, conveyor means moving the clamp means and backbone lengthwise along a path with both sides of the backbone exposed throughout the path, a first rotary cutter on one side of said path disposed to cut laterally partway into the width of one side of the backbone as it moves thereby, and a second rotary cutter on the opposite side of and farther along said path disposed to cut at least to the same width through the other remaining side of the backbone. The remaining uncut side of the backbone acts as backup means for the first rotary cutter, and the first out side of the backbone acts as backup means for the second rotary cutter. Since only half the backbone is cut at one time, the forces generated require much less clamping pressure to counteract them, and since the full trimming of each page removes only one layer, strips of salable scrap are produced.

These and other novel aspects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of apparatus according to the invention with the conveyor track of FIG. 2 removed;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As previously indicated, the purpose of the invention is-to saw through the backbone of an unbound book to prepare it for subsequent book binding operations, such as the application of adhesive, either immediately after sawing or following additional roughening steps. As illustrated, an unbound book B is typically composed of a plurality of side-by-side signatures s with folds at the books backbone lying in a common plane f (FIG. 2). In other examples the book B may simply be a stack of pages, without folds, to be sawn flush for further book binding operations.

The book B is held by clamp l and jaws 2 with the book backbone portion extending therebeneath. A conveyor track 3 supports the clamp and moves it, and book B, along a parallel path indicated in the drawing by dashed lines.

Disposed on opposite sides along the path of travel of the book B are two staggered rotary saws 4 and 5 which lie in a common plane above the signature fold plane f FIGS. 2 and 3). The first saw 4 is located so that its outer peripheral edge 6 extends substantially to the median line m of the path taken by the book B (FIG. ll). Accordingly, the first saw 4 will cut substantially halfway through the backbone of book B as it travels past the saw. The uncut side of the backbone is of sufficient thickness and strength to act as back up for this cut to prevent the signatures from folding over or the like (FIG. 3). The second saw 5 is disposed farther along the path on the opposite side of the path from the first saw 4, and is coplanar therewith. Therefore, as the book B travels past the second saw 5 the remaining uncut side of the backbone is sawn through at the same height as the first side to leave the backbone with a flush edge. As FIG. ll shows, the second saw 5 has its peripheral edge 7 extending at least to, and preferably beyond the line m to which the first saw 4 cut. This overlap insures that any bending of the backbone that may take place will not result in a central uncut portion.

So that the rotary saws 4 and 5 can be adjusted to out books of different thicknesses, they and their driving motors d and 9, respectively, have slidable mounts 10 and 22, respectively, permitting transverse movement of the saws toward and away from the path traveled by the book B. The mounts l0 and ll, as illustrated, each comprise three fixed slotted tracks 12, 13 and 14 receiving complementary posts 15, 16 and I7 secured to the respective motors.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration, and that the invention includes all modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

ll. Apparatus for cutting an unbound book backbone comprising:

clamp means for holding the book with the length of the backbone exposed,

conveyor means moving the clamp means and backbone lengthwise along a path with both sides of the backbone exposed throughout the path, I y

a first rotary cutter on one side of said path disposed to cut laterally part-way into the width of one side of the backbone as it moves thereby, and

a second rotary cutter coplanar with the first and on the opposite side of and farther along said path disposed to cut at least to the same width through the other, remaining, side of the backbone,

said second rotary cutter being spaced along said path at least one backbone length from the first rotary cutter and being disposed to cut into the backbone after the first cutter, thereby to reduce the pressure needed to hold the book in said clamp means,

whereby the remaining uncut side of the backbone acts as sufficient backup means for the first rotary cutter.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said rotary cutters is slidably mounted for movement transverse to the path taken by the book independently of the other cutter to change the depth of cut.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein both of said rotary cutters are independently slidably mounted for movement transverse to the path taken by the book to change the depth ofcut. 

1. Apparatus for cutting an unbound book backbone comprising: clamp means for holding the book with the length of the backbone exposed, conveyor means moving the clamp means and backbone lengthwise along a path with both sides of the backbone exposed throughout the path, a first rotary cutter on one side of said path disposed to cut laterally part way into the width of one side of the backbone as it moves thereby, and a second rotary cutter coplanar with the first and on the opposite side of and farther along said path disposed to cut at least to the same width through the other, remaining, side of the backbone, said second rotary cutter being spaced along said path at least one backbone length from the first rotary cutter and being disposed to cut into the backbone after the first cutter, thereby to reduce the pressure needed to hold the book in said clamp means, whereby the remaining uncut side of the backbone acts as sufficient backup means for the first rotary cutter.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said rotary cutters is slidably mounted for movement transverse to the path taken by the book independently of the other cutter to change the depth of cut.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein both of said rotary cutters are independently slidably mounted for movement transverse to the path taken by the book to change the depth of cut. 